Andhra Pradesh Legislature session begins tomorrow in Amaravati

The Business Advisory Committees of the two Houses of state Legislature will meet on Monday and decide on the duration of the session.

The government is keen to wind it up by March 28 after getting the Appropriation Bill passed, ahead of the Telugu New Year’s Day ‘Ugadi’ on March 29.

The AP Legislature session will be held on Monday after a gap of six months and for the first time in the new capital.

The three-day monsoon session in September was the last to be held in Hyderabad, the joint capital of AP and Telangana.

The state government had to skip the winter session, normally held in December, as construction of the new Legislature building in Amaravati was not completed in time.

The new Legislature building, with hi-tech facilities, was finally inaugurated on March 2 in the state government’s transitional headquarters premises at Velagapudi, where the Secretariat is also located.

Since there are no facilities (accommodation) for the legislators in the new capital region, the government would pay them Rs 50,000 each as a special allowance, state Legislative Affairs Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu said.

The state’s Budget for the year 2017-18 will be presented in the House on March 13. The agriculture budget will also be presented on the same day.

The government is expected to introduce at least five Bills during the budget session. The state Cabinet recently approved the draft AP Seed Bill, Maritime Board Bill, Logistics University Bill and the Energy University Bill.

The Depositors of Financial Establishments (Amendment) Bill has also been cleared by the Cabinet and is expected to be moved in the Assembly.

The lone opposition YSR Congress is expected to raise the issue of special category status demand for the state.

Besides, the suspension of its firebrand member R K Roja from the Assembly for a year is also an issue at hand for the YSRC.

Actress-MLA Roja was in December 2015 suspended from the House for a year for allegedly making derogatory remarks against the Leader of the House Chandrababu Naidu.

She had also allegedly made some remarks against TDP MLA Vangalapudi Anita.

The issue is expected to be taken up by the House on March 7, Legislature sources said.